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May 6, 2011

G32: Twins 9, Red Sox 2

Before tonight, the Twins had scored more than five runs only once in 29 games. They had no problem swinging the lumber tonight, as Wakefield (4.1-9-8-4-1, 84) allowed four runs after only ten Twins had batted. That hole was deep enough, as Boston could do nothing with Baker (8-7-2-1-8, 106).

Trevor Plouffe homered in the first inning, Denard Span singled in two runs in the second, and Danny Valencia doubled in a pair in the fifth. The other runs scored on a balk called by the incompetent home plate umpire Angel Hernandez (his jaw-droppingly bad ball/strike calls have to be seen to be believed) and two more came around on one of Jed Lowrie's two errors.

J.D. Drew and Adrian Gonzalez hit solo home runs for Boston. ... Alfredo Aceves, back up from Pawtucket, pitched very well (4.2-3-1-1-2, 67) in relief. ... Jacoby Ellsbury singled twice.

Wakefield makes the start tonight, as Daisuke Matsuzaka was scratched after his relief appearance in Wednesday's 13-inning loss.

Before yesterday's game, the Red Sox placed Bobby Jenks (right biceps tendinitis) and Dan Wheeler (left calf) on the 15-day disabled list and called up Rich Hill and Scott Atchison. Both pitchers worked in relief of John Lackey and after the game, Atchison was sent back down to Pawtucket. Alfredo Aceves is expected to be with the Sox tonight.

Theo Epstein hit all the relevant checkmarks when he assembled the 2011 Red Sox: talent, track record, makeup. But maybe he missed one that's more crucial than we realized - hunger.

The drawback of building an uber-team that features a bunch of eight-figure contracts ... is that no one has to fight for anything. ... [T]hey lack the desperation to turn a very good club into a great one.

After tonight, one-fifth of the season will be complete, and the Red Sox are no closer to first place (4 GB) than they were almost a month ago: April 10. (They were 3.5 GB for a few days about two weeks ago, but quickly dropped back.) It's been frustrating, but we're about four months away from "desperate".

That whole mess with West grabbing at Francona was ridiculous. West should be ejected. I always find it funny when umpires "protect" the other umps. If you're man enough to make the call, you're man enough to get cussed out.